Automat

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

William's future

automat --

I want to tell you about a family in Minnesota.

Justin and Kari live in Brooklyn Park, right outside of Minneapolis. They're parents to three children. Their three-year-old, William, was born with a genetic disorder called tuberous sclerosis complex.

For the rest of his life, William will wrestle with tumors in his brain, his heart, his kidneys, his skin, and possibly other major organs. He must take medication to control seizures and faces the threat of kidney disease.

What Justin and Kari want for William is a future. And because of health reform, that's what he'll have.

Today, insurance companies are no longer able to discriminate against William because of the condition he's dealt with since birth. Now, Justin and Kari know they'll be able to get the kind of care that William needs -- today and into the future.

Their story isn't unique, but it's one of many that need to be told. We all know people whose lives have been changed because of the Affordable Care Act, even if we don't realize it. So we've found a way to show exactly how reform is working for all of us -- for our parents, our siblings, our kids, ourselves.

Before the Affordable Care Act, Justin and Kari weren't sure about the future. They worried that they'd never be able to find coverage for William again if Justin lost his job. They worried about the life that William would lead -- whether he'd ever be able to work or support a family.

Not anymore. William's condition isn't going away, but he'll always be able to get care. The Affordable Care Act is one year old today, and it has already changed William's life -- and this country -- for good.

Today, there are families who feel better about the future than they did a year ago. They've found some security, some relief. And these are people we know. They're our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends, our families -- the people next to us every day.

On the one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, I think we have a duty to discuss how reform is already working.

Watch Justin and Kari tell their story, and take a moment to learn how health reform is changing the lives of those you know:

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Unacceptable

automat --

Democrats and Republicans have to reach an agreement to keep the government operating.

Right now, President Obama is calling on both sides to come to the table and reach a reasonable solution -- a plan that builds for the future while eliminating wasteful spending in the present. A plan where cutting spending is done judiciously -- not recklessly. A plan with investments that create jobs -- not cuts that eliminate them.

But the current Republican proposal is packed with extreme cuts that are clearly serving a political agenda -- cutting billions from Head Start, slashing Pell Grants and other programs that help students pay for college, and completely eliminating funding for Title X family-planning services.

It's not a responsible plan to cut spending -- but a set of policy prescriptions intended to appease the most extreme wing of their party.

And while cuts like these make the Republican plan objectionable -- it's the fact that it puts nearly 1 million jobs at risk that makes it absolutely unacceptable.

So we're standing with President Obama in a very public way -- with an open letter calling on Republicans to work with him and Democrats in Congress to pass a commonsense budget that works for the American people. Supporters will hand-deliver the petition, with your signature, to House Republicans -- making sure our combined voices ring loud and clear.

Right now, the debate surrounding our budget should be about one thing -- people.

An out-of-work father of three isn't concerned with advancing the Republicans' social agenda. All he's thinking about right now is getting back to work so he can pay his mortgage and his gas bill.

A single mother who relies on Head Start for her four-year-old isn't thinking about the political sound bite of the moment -- she is concerned with making sure her daughter can keep up when she enters kindergarten next year.

The American people don't care about political back-and-forth or partisan ideology. They want their government to do right by its citizens.

And that's where the Republican plan falls short.

They would close more than 16,000 classrooms, lay off 55,000 teachers, and cause 218,000 children to be kicked out of early-childhood education programs.

They would slash homeland security investments and lay off thousands of police officers and firefighters, leaving our communities less safe.

They would defund health insurance reform, doing away with the cost savings and vital patient protections relied upon by millions of Americans around the country.

They would eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, ending thousands of health center jobs across the country and leaving millions of women without access to preventive care.

Now, President Obama knows that this must be a shared sacrifice, and that some cuts must be made -- and he stands ready to work together to find a commonsense solution.

But the current Republican plan would knock this country down just as we've begun to stand back up.

The American people deserve better -- and it's up to us to demand it.

Add your name to call on congressional Republicans to stand down from their irresponsible proposal and work with the President on a reasonable plan that we can all support: